Born in 1585 to an inn-keeper, Heinrich Schütz, the great Church composer, learned music from the local church and then pursued studies in law. When a Landgrave heard his musical abilities, he offered to pay for Schütz to study in Italy. Schütz spent several profitable years studying with Gabrieli in Venice. At his death, Gabrieli left Schütz his signet ring as a token of his respect for his abilities and warm friendship. Schütz said of his studies:
“Gabrieli—What a man he was…After I had been but a short time with my teacher, I found out how important and difficult was the study of composition…and I realized that I still had a poor foundation in it. From this time on I put away all my previous studies and devoted myself to the study of music alone. Upon the publication of my first humble work Giovanni Gabrieli urged me with great warmth to continue the study of music.”
Schütz returned to Italy after the death of his wife to study with Claudio Montverdi for a short time. When he returned to Germany this time, he stayed in the employ of the Duke of Saxony for the rest of his life.
Schütz’s ambition was to take the ideas of Martin Luther with regard to music and worship and translate them into practical use. He wrote a series of pieces for choir on the Psalms of David using Luther’s own Biblical translation so that the text would be understandable to the people. In addition, he set the text in such a way that the music enhanced and elaborated the meaning of the words to give greater clarity. Schütz also composed the music for the Becker Psalter.
The German Requiem, several settings of the Passion, The Christmas Story, “The Last Words of Christ,” and more than 500 extant works testify to his desire for good liturgical music to be available for the worship of the Church. Since many of his other works were destroyed by fire, war, and other causes, his full output is unknown.
Schütz died on 7 November 1672 after living a full life and composing to his last days. He was survived by his granddaughter and great granddaughter. Schütz was born 100 years after Luther and 100 years before Bach. He did more than anyone to establish Luther’s ideas about worship in such a manner that enabled Bach to build upon his foundation in his own remarkable way. Schütz’s music is energetic, complex, understandable, and a wonderful testimony of God’s faithfulness and glory.
Showing posts with label Fine Arts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fine Arts. Show all posts
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Modern versus Medieval Aesthetics
Our understanding of Medieval art is colored by our own modern expectations of art, and because we have lost the ability to understand and conceive of truly ecclesiastical art--art rendered and executed solely for the glory of God, within a covenantal community, for the edification of the church.
There exists a difference between medieval aesthetics and modern aesthetics. Modern aesthetics concerns itself with being:
Original: everything must be new in order to be valued and recognized
Clever: gains attention by gimmicks, manipulations, and “hooks”
Random: without a specific pattern, plan or connection
Innovative: fresh; always new—new form, new content, new shock
Acclaim: celebrity; workers who create for their own glory; the recognition of the artist is more important than the work
Independent: individual, artists work for individual gain
Spirituality: mysticism; higher planes; otherworldliness
Ethereal: insubstantial, frail, transient
The medieval, biblical view of aesthetics was interested those things of:
Order: tradition, following models
Craftsmanship: attention to detail; skill and learning; mastery of technique
Rooted: firm foundation in biblical truth and culture; rooted in faith and community
Inventive: creative; seeking new ways to express old and eternal truths
Anonymous: workers who created for God’s glory; the aim of the work is more important than who created it
Interdependence: communal; artists worked in community for the edification of the greater community
Spirit: worked within the framework of a Christian culture seeking to convey biblical and theological truth
Eternal: eternal truth more important than realism; stories out of time; timeless truth
These truths of medieval aesthetics stand in firm contradiction to our understanding and participation in the arts and beauty. We even see these modern concepts as the basis for much of worship. We will never be truly effective or able to engage culture until we are rooted in a biblical objective aesthetic that challenges the emptiness of modernity with God’s truth, beauty, and goodness.
There exists a difference between medieval aesthetics and modern aesthetics. Modern aesthetics concerns itself with being:
Original: everything must be new in order to be valued and recognized
Clever: gains attention by gimmicks, manipulations, and “hooks”
Random: without a specific pattern, plan or connection
Innovative: fresh; always new—new form, new content, new shock
Acclaim: celebrity; workers who create for their own glory; the recognition of the artist is more important than the work
Independent: individual, artists work for individual gain
Spirituality: mysticism; higher planes; otherworldliness
Ethereal: insubstantial, frail, transient
The medieval, biblical view of aesthetics was interested those things of:
Order: tradition, following models
Craftsmanship: attention to detail; skill and learning; mastery of technique
Rooted: firm foundation in biblical truth and culture; rooted in faith and community
Inventive: creative; seeking new ways to express old and eternal truths
Anonymous: workers who created for God’s glory; the aim of the work is more important than who created it
Interdependence: communal; artists worked in community for the edification of the greater community
Spirit: worked within the framework of a Christian culture seeking to convey biblical and theological truth
Eternal: eternal truth more important than realism; stories out of time; timeless truth
These truths of medieval aesthetics stand in firm contradiction to our understanding and participation in the arts and beauty. We even see these modern concepts as the basis for much of worship. We will never be truly effective or able to engage culture until we are rooted in a biblical objective aesthetic that challenges the emptiness of modernity with God’s truth, beauty, and goodness.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Education: Why Music is More Important than the Other Arts
Although we have a sense that the arts are an important part of a child’s education, typically our approach has more to do with a secular understanding than a biblical approach. A smattering of knowledge about the great composers and artists usually suffices.
However, even our measure of who is “great” has much more to do with secular criteria than with a biblical model of artistic objectives.
The importance of music education is to train worshippers. God calls some to be artists; God calls all to worship. As such, the focus and aim of music education is to train and equip students to learn to read, understand, analyze, critique, and create music for the purpose of worshipping well in spirit and in truth. Music itself can be true—not just the lyrics. Since beauty is an attribute of God, ought we not to offer back to Him in worship that which is truly and objectively beautiful? As such, we need to better understand the nature of music to more fully assess its worth and objective value.
In order to that, we need to train students in music for a task greater than recognizing the melodies of symphonies. I love the arts and have taught art history and aesthetics for a number of years; however, to give equal weight to the visual arts and to music in education short changes our ability to worship well. The fact that we do not have a fully integrated concept of music in education is testimony to the triumph of Enlightenment principles.
For the sake of worship, we must restore music to its rightful and equal place in the “core” curriculum of our education.
Psalm 66:1-4 (ESV)
Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise!
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.
All the earth worships you and sings praises to you;
they sing praises to your name.”
However, even our measure of who is “great” has much more to do with secular criteria than with a biblical model of artistic objectives.
The importance of music education is to train worshippers. God calls some to be artists; God calls all to worship. As such, the focus and aim of music education is to train and equip students to learn to read, understand, analyze, critique, and create music for the purpose of worshipping well in spirit and in truth. Music itself can be true—not just the lyrics. Since beauty is an attribute of God, ought we not to offer back to Him in worship that which is truly and objectively beautiful? As such, we need to better understand the nature of music to more fully assess its worth and objective value.
In order to that, we need to train students in music for a task greater than recognizing the melodies of symphonies. I love the arts and have taught art history and aesthetics for a number of years; however, to give equal weight to the visual arts and to music in education short changes our ability to worship well. The fact that we do not have a fully integrated concept of music in education is testimony to the triumph of Enlightenment principles.
For the sake of worship, we must restore music to its rightful and equal place in the “core” curriculum of our education.
Psalm 66:1-4 (ESV)
Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise!
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.
All the earth worships you and sings praises to you;
they sing praises to your name.”
Friday, January 5, 2007
The Christmas Oratorio
On January 6, 1735, J.S. Bach premiered the sixth, and final section, of his Christmas Oratorio.
One of the things that I appreciate about the music of Sebastian Bach is the liturgical context of his work which integrated with worship services. This fact is true with regard to the six-part Christmas Oratorio (1734-35)—a work written and conceived as a whole but designed to be performed on significant dates during the twelve days of Christmas. This unfolding of the Christmas story, compiled primarily from the biblical narrative, includes details about the Annunciation, the adoration of the shepherds, the circumcision, and the arrival of the Magi. Bach wrote the sections of the oratorio to be performed during services on the First, Second, and Third days of Christmas, the Feast of the Circumcision (January 1), the First Sunday of the New Year, and the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6).
The technical mastery, personal devotion and faith, liturgical application, and accessibility of Bach’s music is unmatched by any other composer. Even Handel’s Messiah is not a work for the church service, and the successive generations of composers after Bach (including Handel) wrote primarily for the concert stage—not the sanctuary.
As such, Bach’s music, and the Christmas Oratorio in particular, offers a rich feast of theology and worship. It’s a shame that these works (including the 200 church cantatas) are so under-utilized in worship, but at least we have recordings.
One of the things that I appreciate about the music of Sebastian Bach is the liturgical context of his work which integrated with worship services. This fact is true with regard to the six-part Christmas Oratorio (1734-35)—a work written and conceived as a whole but designed to be performed on significant dates during the twelve days of Christmas. This unfolding of the Christmas story, compiled primarily from the biblical narrative, includes details about the Annunciation, the adoration of the shepherds, the circumcision, and the arrival of the Magi. Bach wrote the sections of the oratorio to be performed during services on the First, Second, and Third days of Christmas, the Feast of the Circumcision (January 1), the First Sunday of the New Year, and the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6).
The technical mastery, personal devotion and faith, liturgical application, and accessibility of Bach’s music is unmatched by any other composer. Even Handel’s Messiah is not a work for the church service, and the successive generations of composers after Bach (including Handel) wrote primarily for the concert stage—not the sanctuary.
As such, Bach’s music, and the Christmas Oratorio in particular, offers a rich feast of theology and worship. It’s a shame that these works (including the 200 church cantatas) are so under-utilized in worship, but at least we have recordings.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Originality as Unbiblical
Craftsmanship, and not originality, was the emphasis in the arts prior to Romanticism and the Enlightenment. Certainly an artist was praised for imaginative ideas, but the value of those ideas rested in how the artist treated and developed those ideas and crafted them into something profound. The quality of the idea was dependent on its suitability for development.
An artist striving to be original by necessity ignores or rebels against the history and development of their art. This denial flies in the face of the biblical ideas of learning from the past, passing along wisdom, and respecting the clouds of witnesses who have gone before.
An artist motivated to be original, by definition, is more interested in personal glory than the glory of God. The impulse to be different for the sake of being different has no place in a biblical concept of the arts.
Scripture does not deny the opportunity to be creative, but the emphasis and purpose is far different than our concept of originality. Craftsmanship, as an artistic trait, is much more in line with the biblical notion of the arts—and a far more difficult endeavor requiring the exercising of wisdom and ability. The idea of taking various materials, gathering them, remolding and blending them, and ultimately enlarging them is the bringing of order inherent in craftsmanship—an opportunity to act as a sub-creator.
One need only to evaluate the twentieth century art which used originality as its basis to see how far originality takes true art away from a biblical standard.
An artist striving to be original by necessity ignores or rebels against the history and development of their art. This denial flies in the face of the biblical ideas of learning from the past, passing along wisdom, and respecting the clouds of witnesses who have gone before.
An artist motivated to be original, by definition, is more interested in personal glory than the glory of God. The impulse to be different for the sake of being different has no place in a biblical concept of the arts.
Scripture does not deny the opportunity to be creative, but the emphasis and purpose is far different than our concept of originality. Craftsmanship, as an artistic trait, is much more in line with the biblical notion of the arts—and a far more difficult endeavor requiring the exercising of wisdom and ability. The idea of taking various materials, gathering them, remolding and blending them, and ultimately enlarging them is the bringing of order inherent in craftsmanship—an opportunity to act as a sub-creator.
One need only to evaluate the twentieth century art which used originality as its basis to see how far originality takes true art away from a biblical standard.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Why Christians Should Read Music
Martin Luther once said, “Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world.” He insisted on a prominent role of music in the education of children—especially those training to be pastors. As we see in the time of J.S. Bach, the modern Enlightenment ideals began the erosion of music education in favor of more “academic” subjects.
Ignorance of the basic elements of music is comparable to illiteracy. Not being able to read seriously hampers one’s ability to read Scripture for oneself; not being able to read music hinders one’s ability to worship.
Worship serves to bind a group of people into a community. Utilizing music that can be sung in parts serves as a valuable tool to this end and implies some knowledge of music and its mechanics. Part singing leaves little room for individual self expression, improvisation, or selfishness and thus encourages the growth of the covenantal community by removing the focus from self and directing it to God. Part singing encourages a sense of belonging, community and reliance.
Belonging is encouraged by the very necessity of each of the harmonic parts being sung. The individual has the sense of being an integral component of something beyond just their voice part. There exists the sense of being needed.
Community is developed in the need to incorporate individual singing with the other parts. It develops an awareness of what the other members of the community are singing as well as building bonds between the parts. Reliance on one another contributes greatly to the sense of community.
Reliance is evident in the need to depend upon the surrounding people as the individual parts are sung. This is apparent when physically divided into voice parts and surrounded by people singing the same notes or when standing next to a different voice part and relying on one another for pitch, intonation, and entrances.
From the time of David, music has played a prominent role in the worship of God. Participation in that worship is crucial for the health of the Church. Too often we are “worshiped at” as opposed to being led in corporate worship.
As G.K. Chesterton wrote in Heretics, “But if we look at the progress of our scientific civilization we see a gradual increase everywhere of the specialist over the popular function. Once men sang together round a table in chorus; now one man sings alone, for the absurd reason that he can sing better. If scientific civilization goes on (which is most improbable) only one man will laugh, because he can laugh better than the rest.”
We pay people to sing for us, act for us, play sports for us, read for us, and we move farther and farther to the sidelines of life. Educating the people of God in how to sing will encourage the return to the center of worship life with greater understanding and ability in offering our best gifts to the Lord.
Music is the art of the prophets and the gift of God. —Martin Luther
Ignorance of the basic elements of music is comparable to illiteracy. Not being able to read seriously hampers one’s ability to read Scripture for oneself; not being able to read music hinders one’s ability to worship.
Worship serves to bind a group of people into a community. Utilizing music that can be sung in parts serves as a valuable tool to this end and implies some knowledge of music and its mechanics. Part singing leaves little room for individual self expression, improvisation, or selfishness and thus encourages the growth of the covenantal community by removing the focus from self and directing it to God. Part singing encourages a sense of belonging, community and reliance.
Belonging is encouraged by the very necessity of each of the harmonic parts being sung. The individual has the sense of being an integral component of something beyond just their voice part. There exists the sense of being needed.
Community is developed in the need to incorporate individual singing with the other parts. It develops an awareness of what the other members of the community are singing as well as building bonds between the parts. Reliance on one another contributes greatly to the sense of community.
Reliance is evident in the need to depend upon the surrounding people as the individual parts are sung. This is apparent when physically divided into voice parts and surrounded by people singing the same notes or when standing next to a different voice part and relying on one another for pitch, intonation, and entrances.
From the time of David, music has played a prominent role in the worship of God. Participation in that worship is crucial for the health of the Church. Too often we are “worshiped at” as opposed to being led in corporate worship.
As G.K. Chesterton wrote in Heretics, “But if we look at the progress of our scientific civilization we see a gradual increase everywhere of the specialist over the popular function. Once men sang together round a table in chorus; now one man sings alone, for the absurd reason that he can sing better. If scientific civilization goes on (which is most improbable) only one man will laugh, because he can laugh better than the rest.”
We pay people to sing for us, act for us, play sports for us, read for us, and we move farther and farther to the sidelines of life. Educating the people of God in how to sing will encourage the return to the center of worship life with greater understanding and ability in offering our best gifts to the Lord.
Music is the art of the prophets and the gift of God. —Martin Luther
Artistic Credo
This is a fun post to re-do since I usually get a lot of comments. It is intended to be a discussion starter.
I believe that beauty is an attribute of God and is therefore a theological issue.
I believe that beauty and excellence are objective and that the Bible provides the standard for what is beautiful and excellent.
I believe that since there is a biblical objective standard for what is beautiful and excellent that this should apply especially in areas of worship.
I believe that an understanding of beauty enables a greater understanding of the nature and character of God.
I believe that the arts are worldview incarnate.
I believe that goodness, truth, and beauty are Trinitarian concepts and that each element requires the relationship of the other two for complete understanding.
I believe that the saints need to know how to read music and how to sing for the sake of the worship of God.
I believe that we should know, respect, and utilize the arts of the past as we continue to create new art that is historically informed but also biblically creative.
I believe that originality is not a biblical notion.
I believe that we weaken our understanding of art when we try to apply a narrative structure on all works instead of trying to understand music as music, painting as painting, etc.
I believe Philippians 4:8 provides a strident critique of the actions of many modern Christians as they dabble in secular culture.
I believe that the Church abdicated its rightful place as the leader of culture.
I believe that the Church no longer knows how to train and equip artists because we have adopted a secular view of the arts.
I believe that beauty is an attribute of God and is therefore a theological issue.
I believe that beauty and excellence are objective and that the Bible provides the standard for what is beautiful and excellent.
I believe that since there is a biblical objective standard for what is beautiful and excellent that this should apply especially in areas of worship.
I believe that an understanding of beauty enables a greater understanding of the nature and character of God.
I believe that the arts are worldview incarnate.
I believe that goodness, truth, and beauty are Trinitarian concepts and that each element requires the relationship of the other two for complete understanding.
I believe that the saints need to know how to read music and how to sing for the sake of the worship of God.
I believe that we should know, respect, and utilize the arts of the past as we continue to create new art that is historically informed but also biblically creative.
I believe that originality is not a biblical notion.
I believe that we weaken our understanding of art when we try to apply a narrative structure on all works instead of trying to understand music as music, painting as painting, etc.
I believe Philippians 4:8 provides a strident critique of the actions of many modern Christians as they dabble in secular culture.
I believe that the Church abdicated its rightful place as the leader of culture.
I believe that the Church no longer knows how to train and equip artists because we have adopted a secular view of the arts.
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